re: 1st of three articles i've written this year.

hello friends, fans, foe and hustlers,

been awhile, i've been busy, looking for work, hustling, slinging, doing my best to keep my head above the water. i've written three articles this year so far. low numbers to be sure. but i'm going to post them for your reading and viewing pleasure!

enjoy!?

CB


It started like this: recently i was approached by a local newspaper about graffiti and taggers. The poor writer didn't know where to start, so i explained it as clearly as possible in as few words as possible. have a read!?

Hi _______,

tell me more about your article.

also, a tagger is not a graffiti artist. there's a world of difference. a tagger is like the first steps to becoming a graffiti artist. a tagger is a vandal. a graffiti artist is just that, an artist that has taken years to develop a style and perfect what they do. kids start out with a "tag" to become known throughout a city.

if they become "citywide" that means people across town know who they are. then if they're serious about it, they start working on a "piece" meaning graff style letters that represent their name. usually it starts out as a "bomb" or "throwie" style letters, the big bubbly style first associated with philadelphia and then new york. after awhile and practice they keep developing their style and become more intricate, gradually moving towards a west coast L.A. style of writing that is nearly illegible to the untrained eye.

this is called "wildstyle," and there's some great graff movies out there on youtube. "kings and toys" which refers to a starting out graff writer as a "toy" and an experienced one as a "king." another great movie is actually called "wildstyle" and documents the explosion of this gnarly style of graffiti art at it's epicentre of venice beach, california. there is a hugely successful group of "writers" from l.a. called "the seventh letter," google them. they've got a fashion brand and crew of writers such as saber, revok, ewok, pose, and many more that form a globally renowned "crew" of writers and streets artists. they are the realm of kings.

then there is "street art" which is the wildly creative trend of people who don't do "letters" but actually create art pieces instead, a totally different genre that features skills and strengths on "characters" which is basically like letters, to full blown art masterpieces such as things done by blu, how and nosm, david choe, dabs and myla banksy, james jean and many more.

there are also awesome street art festivals around the world that feature the work of some of these artists such as the "under pressure" festival here in canada that happens in ottawa and or montreal, nuart festival in stavanger, norway, Fame festival in grottalagie, italy, pow wow! in honalulu, hawaii, Art basel in miami, and many more around the world. i myself have been pretty fortunate to be invited and have painted across canada doing "street art," from victoria, vancouver, kamloops, kelowna, penticton, vernon, grand forks, calgary, prince albert, regina, brandon manitoba, winnipeg, toronto, sault st. marie, hamilton, ottawa, hull and montreal.

so, to get from being a "toy" to a "king" takes many years of dedicated practice drawing out your name, developing your style and then many hundreds if not thousands of dollars. the average graffiti piece in terms of "letters" can be between $50 to $150 you see on a train or a wall, and a street art mural even more. cans of paint are not the crap "civilians" paint with, such as krylon or rustoleum, that's from the 1980's, because there is now a global market on graffiti art with companies started by graffiti artists and writers that create acrylic based, high pigment colours paint starting about $6 on the low side per can to upwards of $10 and $12 a can of 400 or 500ml paint. there are also low and high pressure cans for different paint styles, as well as a plethora of "caps" meaning the paint nozzles used. belton, montana, kobra, ironlak and more are some of the major global companies that make spray cans specifically for street art.

at any given time i'd guess kamloops has about 50 to 100 taggers, the most active age is probably grade 9 to 11 and then they usually stop. these are disenfranchised kids who feel they have no voice or power and tagging represents that. it's a way for them to rebel. to get known. to feel something in a society they don't feel included in. when they go beyond that and get into creating "pieces" meaning larger scale graffiti art or words, it takes maturity and practice and money. doing street art isn't cheap. so, as for practicing street artists in the loops, i'd say there's less than 20. most people stop once they hit their 20's or they move on in life to other communities.

to me, kamloops needs what are known as "free walls," and major cities in canada have them, they provide safe, creative opportunities for youth to express themselves on large walls on created spaces or abandoned buildings or whatever. here in kamloops, if you want to graffiti art, you have to risk your life. walls are few and far between and involve finding a space to paint that is abandoned, unsafe and populated by homeless people, drug addicts and more. i've painted at places where you have to deal with homeless people that are sketched out and have mental health issues, addiction issues, alcohol issues and can be violently aggressive towards anyone. then there are broken bottles, needles, crack pipes strewn about that you have to be careful about. all just to paint peacefully on a wall in a place no one will ever see, but it's fun and relaxing once you get past all the other madness.

i had a graffiti art show last year in kelowna at the alternator centre for creative art and part of the exhibition was showing that side of street art, the stuff you have to deal with just to paint. a free wall would be a safe place for youth to showcase their skills and talent without risking their lives. but it probably won't happen until the kid or grandchild of a city councillor or mayor gets hurt, then it'll become a priority. god i'm jaded. haha. ottawa has a massive legal wall. ottawa. think about that. haha.

does that help?

if you have anymore questions contact me, i'm about to start a mural at the kamloops aboriginal friendship centre next week! i've got a couple others ones in town, one at the emerald centre downtown, the former rendezvous hotel, and behind Kamloops Immigrant Services on the north shore, that one is massive, i think 125 feet wide!

cheers,

cb.

re: winter time is nearly over? what already?

Hello friends, fans, foe and lovers,

it's been awhile, i think i'm writhing around, deep in mid-life crisis, too poor for a fancy sports car, i'd rather buy guitars and art supplies anyway, and spoil my kids. haha. but here are a selection of photos from travels near and far. this winter has been short, and i fear it's going to be scorchingly hot, full of fires in the southern interior and horrid insects like ticks. as usual thinking lots about life and the choices and directions i've taken while on this trip, some pretty good, some pretty bad, and still i stumble on like david choe once said, "artists are a bunch of depressed, manic, self-absorbed son's of bitching a-holes, but incredibly fun" and i guess i'm no different. haha.

have a look at the photos, some are artsy and some are fartsy, you decide which is witch!

until next time lovers,


Chris Bose III, esquire.

december 2015

december 2015 secret place

december 2015

secret place

december 2015 ?

december 2015 ?

good bye winter, i'll miss you

in some ways. 

my daughter

i miss very much

summer 2014

my other daughter

i also miss very much

summer 2014

my son i miss very much

december 2015

?

?

my old truck

i kind of miss

a friend i miss

?

my bro Nigel Spaghetti

this kid, i wish

i had that shirt still

i remember it a bit

still had baby teeth, so i'm guessing

6 or 7 years old?

epic. 

look what we once had

in abundance

in BC?

Almost all gone. 

cool. 

idea.

should some with John A. Mcdonald 

who once boased 

"we keep our indians on the brink of starvation"

when boasting about how "efficiently" 

he ran the country. 

re: new mural images!!!!

Hello Lovers,

it's been awhile and i apologize, i've been busy working on a variety of projects and life in general. here are some images from a mural i did with several TREC youth at a building called the "Emerald Centre," here in Kamloops, BC. It's an emergency shelter for men and women and they wanted something positive, with roots, balance, and vibrant and bright.

Legal walls and murals are a strange beast in this town, to get this project off the ground from concept to completion took over three months. the actual work on the mural took 10 days. weird eh?
But at least we did it and it was great fun, and the first time i've ever worked with a crew of all boys, or teenage boys.

so, here are some images for you!!!

cheers,


cb.

re: upcoming art exhibition in Kelowna!!!

hello friends, fans, foe and lovers,

i've got an exhibition coming up very soon, as in tomorrow is the opening night, haha. if you're in the Kelowna, BC area, do come say hello and meet myself and other artists from the Arbour Collective Marvin Strange and Kast. We'll be around for chit chat and i'll be playing guitar as well as doing a brief artist talk. it'll be controversial apparently but not as bad as the last show i had at Alternator Centre, where i had 2 death threats for my Jesus Coyote show and there were plain clothes officers there just in case.

in the meantime,

i'll included the text for the curatorial statement:

God save the Underworld:

Is a place most people never see, it represents art created on the fringes of society by artists that are on the edges of outsider art. It is art created for people who may never have or will step in a gallery or museum or pick up a book about contemporary or traditional art. It is art without boundaries because the artists never cared or bothered to learn about them, and are freely creating art for an outside and underworld. Street art is often vilified and tied to tagging and vandalism, but the artists of the underworld have moved beyond mere words and are creating socially relevant art. They wrestle with injustice, alienation, poverty, missing aboriginal women and men and other social issues that afflict our society, moving beyond ego and “getting up,” as the slang goes to a graffiti artist only concerned with getting their name and ego known.

http://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/15/05/27/Graffiti_Art_in_Kelowna_Bringing_Up_Controversial_Topics

This is art made far from the eyes of a society that no longer seems to care about anything that doesn’t affect them personally, it is art made in dangerous places under dangerous situations because it is misunderstood and criminalized. It is lumped in with vandalism even though it’s created underground and on abandoned and crumbling buildings and infrastructure. The simple act of painting and making art is a dangerous business for the artists of the underworld, broken glass, needles and people on the fringes who are homeless or addicted are often near where they must go to make art. Sometimes they are friendly and sometimes they are hostile to the artists, but it’s a risk they are compelled to face to create the art they need. Perhaps it's a need we carry over the thousands and thousands of years since people have been painting in caves dating back 30,000 years or more. An urge to leave our mark, tell our story and to be remembered, perhaps this is what drives the artists of the underworld.

re: another day another dollar.....

hello friends, family and lovers,

i've got an art exhibition opening this friday at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna, BC. it features myself, KAST and Marvin Strange, and it's basically an Arbour Collective show. the days have been sunny and i've been feeling pretty damn lately, better and not bitter i like to say. i'm not sure what it is, clarity, relaxing, a little exercise, and being around good people? either one is working and i'm feeling good. which is a little scary. haha. 

anyway, come check out the show if you're in Kelowna or anywhere near and come say hi!

cheers,

cb

my old truck, a 79 ford F250

total gas pig.

before

after

kamloops, bc on

a decent day.

riverside park, kamloops, bc

south thompson river

kamloops, bc.

dope graff

more dope graff

on the road again,

at least closer to home.

dope graff outside

the penticton art gallery

more dope graff

the two as one

leaving penticton, bc.

kamloops, bc on a beautiful, hot day.

pre-show preview

of the show at the alternator

centre for contemporary art,

kelowna, bc

you bet!!!

re: street art........

hello friends, foe, fans and lovers,

here's some cool art by some guy named 'kyoti,' i'd say each piece is 7 x 15 feet in size. is this graffiti or street art?

thoughts?

should it be illegal?

until next time,

cb

re: street art and murals......

hello friends, fans, foe and lovers,

getting some youth inspired and working with kobra cans for the first time on 4 x 8 sheets of plywood, new mediums to explore and express themselves. when i do mural or graffiti workshops, i lay down the unwritten rules, or laws or codes of street art. once they know the rules, tagging and nuisance graffiti stops by 99% in the schools where we go, and people get more serious about the art and technique and using legal walls or making their own walls at home. 

vilifying and criminalizing a means of creative expression never works. people have been drawing and painting on walls for nearly 30,000 years, i don't see it stopping anytime soon. providing safe places for a creative means of expression is the way to go. instead of making our kids go to dangerous places crawling over broken bottles, needles and other hazardous things to just paint on a damn wall is ridiculous. ottawa has open walls and spaces to do graffiti and it's awesome. if people in kamloops think we have a graffiti problem, they've obviously never left this city and been across canada. i've seen cities that have graffiti 'problems,' and believe me, kamloops is about the safest, most beige city i've ever been in my entire life.